A bout 20 years ago, I wrote that anyone who wanted to succeed could do so. That remains true today. But it is both more difficult and more important to succeed now than it was then.
Today, management at all levels is less tolerant of those who fail to produce and less generous to those who are merely competent. Corporations are eager to trim workers who do not excel, and company loyalty is not enough to ensure survival.
Even if you do your job well, success is not an automatic consequence. It results from a systematic approach that makes sure you get things done and that others see you as successful. To achieve these two results, you must cultivate a number of specific qualities: Energy, competitiveness, realism, memory and communication.
ENERGY
Success requires a great deal of energy. This does not mean a capacity for long hours of hard work. It means enthusiasm to get things done, combined with the ability to do them right.
Structuring your time. If you are not a hard worker by nature, structure your time to encourage achievement by following two rules:
Break up your workload into small, manageable parts.
Reward yourself as you complete each task.
As you reach each goal, you will develop a sense of accomplishment that will encourage you to continue.
Example: My energy level used to dissipate within two hours of my arrival at the office each morning. I found myself trying to deal with a deluge of phone calls, letters to answer and people waiting to see me.
Solution: I decided to spend my first hour each morning doing nothing but answering mail. By completing this limited but essential chore, I was able to start my day with an "achieving" frame of mind. Then, I rewarded myself with a short coffee break and was ready to go on to successfully tackle the more ambitious tasks of the day.
Focus on the important tasks. You won’t get very far if you stick only to small tasks, but it is tempting to put off an important job that will take a few hours or days of hard work.
A simple trick to tackling large projects: Promise yourself a period of relaxation after you complete the necessary hard work. That will help you put in the extra effort to finish the job as quickly as possible and show how much you can accomplish when you work at a high level of efficiency.
Eat and sleep well. You won’t have much energy in the afternoon if you eat a heavy midday meal, so stick to a light lunch.
If you occasionally get drowsy in the afternoon, don’t be embarrassed to take a short nap, as long as everyone is aware of how busy you were in the morning and how energetic you are after your nap.
Look energetic. Promote an image of success, both to others and yourself, by always appearing energetic. Always move briskly. Don’t slouch. Stand straight, with head up, stomach in, chest out and never keep your hands in your pockets.
COMPETITIVENESS
To get ahead, you must be willing to compete with others and be eager to accept responsibility.
Sometimes, competition leads to direct confrontation. Make sure that it is no more brutal than it has to be and that you keep the advantage. Rules of direct confrontation:
Don’t sit opposite your opponent, it sharpens the conflict. Try to sit side by side. To keep your resolve, look at his/her mouth, not eyes.
Strike the first blow. Capture the advantage by stating your case rapidly and terminate the initial confrontation as soon as possible.
Take responsibility for your position. Otherwise, you will get bogged down in a pointless discussion of your personal opinion. Successful people carry out decisions after they have been made. They don’t agonize after the fact.
You also must accept responsibility without being asked. This means taking on vital tasks that others avoid because the tasks are perceived to be too trivial or tedious. Within a short time, you will acquire knowledge and skills that nobody else has, and more important responsibilities will begin flowing to you.
Hint: Pay careful attention to routine memos that everyone else ignores. You will find many problems as you search for solutions. If you suggest and volunteer to implement improvements, your reputation for success will grow.
REALISM
To succeed, you must see the world as it is, not as you think it should be. Some important examples:
Be realistic about other people. You can’t trust everyone, and those whom you can trust may not always perform the way you want them to.
Be realistic about yourself. Recognize your good points, but be aware of your faults.
Study your past failures. You may find a way to transform them into successes.
Important: Realism must be balanced by an ability to fantasize. Dreams of success will motivate you to achieve them in reality.
MEMORY
You are unlikely to succeed unless you can remember what you have to do and whom you should know.
Use lists, the best memory aid. Don’t try to memorize every fact you need to know. Simply write them down.
Remember people’s names. Get them correct from the start. When you are introduced to someone, repeat his name several times during the first conversation and make sure of the spelling. At the earliest opportunity, write down the name together with other useful memory-jogging information, such as the person’s occupation and where you met.
Hint: If you run into someone whose name escapes you, a graceful solution is to announce your own name. The other person will usually reciprocate.
COMMUNICATION
Successful people know how to let others know who they are and what they want. Good verbal communication requires you to speak and write clearly in positive terms.
Hint: Try to postpone areas of disagreement until you have demonstrated how much agreement you share.
Use body language to get attention.
Example: At meetings, don’t sit forward with your elbows on the table. Sit back to listen. When ready to speak, straighten out, move forward and put your arms on the table. You will get everyone’s attention.
Speak in public successfully. Speak in short sentences, touch on a variety of points, be unambiguous, and summarize at the end. And always finish sooner than the audience expects.
